Disgraceful

It seems the majority of the reviews thus far have been written by
viewers who, after not enjoying either of the two previous films,
decided to weigh in on what is ultimately a complete mockery of a great
series.

First I'll tackle the good things about this film, of which there are
few, but they deserve mentioning and as much of a reprieve as anyone
can give them. Aiko Horiuchi replaces Takako Fuji as Kayako (creepy
crackling voice lady) and picks up the role fairly well. Any fault in
her appearance lies with the director, Toby Wilkins, who I will get to
in a moment. The only other two notable performances come from the
female leads, Johanna Braddy and Takatzuna Mukai and might not so much
be notable as much as they just sharply contrast their terrible
surroundings.

Now, on to the awful stuff. I think the large majority of the critics
of the first two films, as I have understood them on here, find that
the they were cryptic and difficult to follow. They have gotten their
wish for an easy to interpret, spoon-fed, linear-flowing, cheesy horror
film in The Grudge 3. Gone are the intelligent and subtle
left-to-the-imagination disappearance kills. Artistic and suspenseful
cinematography have been replaced by bland, formulaic and frightfully
comical scenes. Brad Keene and Toby Wilkins have crafted an
hour-and-a-half long slap in the face of director Takashi Shimizu who
re-invented the haunted house horror film by making his own rules and
breaking all the ones in the book.

Normally I am given pause when criticizing the artistic vision of
writers, directors and actors who put their work on the line for what
is largely a very unforgiving audience. In this case, however, the
writer and director were toying with another man's vision and the hard
work and creative energy he expended trying to bring something original
into the world. I am dumbstruck by how a duo could miss the theme of a
series so entirely. Ultimately, The Grudge 3 adds nothing to the
mythology of the films and takes away a substantial amount.

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31 out of 40 people found the following review useful:

Same Old Stuff

To be honest, i was expecting perhaps something, probably too much,
that would perhaps be original and new to the third grudge. But i think
this was even worse than the others. Nearly the entire movie takes
place in the same apartment building with the same stupid people who
don't believe anything. This is simply the same story told yet again.
The ending wasn't really surprising. It ends so that yet another Grudge
can come out in the future. Grudge 4 will most likely be announced, if
it's not already announced, in the near future. Rated R because more
blood, but not really gore so much. i would say this is a decent movie
other than the fact that it is the same old stuff. Come on Hollywood!
Give us some originality! 4 out of 10

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35 out of 56 people found the following review useful:

This 'Grudge' Has Got Tiresome...

As a fan of "Ju-On" and the 2004 remake―starring "Buffy The Vampire
Slayer" actress Sarah Michelle Gellar―I had high hopes for this third
installment. I mean, after the abysmal 2006 sequel, it couldn't get any
worse, right? Wrong. Granted not as tedious and insipid as the sequel,
this 2009 follow-up starring actress Shawnee Smith still leaves a
bitter taste in the mouth.

Where to start... ?

Director Toby Wilkins tries to duplicate the eeriness and
unpleasantness of the first movie, but sadly, fails miserably. With
half-hearted acting, bad special effects, and a tiresome plot, the
movie never picks up or satisfies. Whilst watching the movie, I
realized the overall story of the franchise has never evolved; or more
to the point, no one has tried to take a fresh approach. Much like the
sequel, the third stab is a series of flat, horror-lacking murder
sequences, and what makes this even worse is, we already know what's
coming. Scene after scene after scene, the previous formula is
recycled. We hear the now trademark 'Grudge' sound, we hear a small boy
running, we hear the cry of a cat ― and that's pretty much it. There is
only so many times you can show a pale-faced, dark haired Japanese
woman with her dead son and their dead cat, until it's just not scary
anymore. The franchise needs new ideas. We need new stories and new
locations. Otherwise, this 'Grudge' is going to be on a constant loop.

My advice, stick with the original or the 2004 remake. There's nothing
you haven't seen before here.

One thing I will say is, I'm surprised this movie is getting the
direct-to-DVD treatment and the second one had theater status. Although
both are severely mediocre, IMO, I wasn't left completely catatonic
after watching the third.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:

Actually not that terrible

I had very low expectations for this film. I had read some of the
reviews on here (good and bad) and wasn't holding out much hope. If
you've fallen in love with the Ju-On and Grudge films in the way I have
in the past month your curiosity will probably get the better of you.
That's what happened to me, but being prepared for a bad movie I was
able to enjoy it for what it was. Yes it changes the storyline, yes
it's cashing in, yes parts of it were illogical, but something about it
wasn't that bad. I'm not going to even bother going in to all the ways
it's wrong because I'm sure people must have done that many times
already on here. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen or even
close. For me the Grudge 2 still had the power to scare but here the
fear factor was gone completely which was a great shame. Some die hard
fans of the series are saying it's just as scary as the first two, some
people are even saying it's one of the scariest films they've seen
which makes me question their mental age. If they found this film scary
I don't know how they even got to it because by all rights the first
two would have scared them so much they'd have probably had a heart
attack - literally scared to death... This film wasn't even slightly
scary but something about it was still quite enjoyable. Maybe it's just
because I love the series so much, maybe it was the characters, the
pace, I don't know, and sitting through the whole thing was worth it
for the last twenty minutes which I found to be actually pretty
exciting. It's no surprise to hear rumours that Grudge 4 is in the
works , and after that Grudge 5 is a pretty safe bet, they'll be
cashing in on this series 'til the cows come home. W*nkers. Thanks

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:

"It's the past. The past can't hurt you".

I really liked the Japanese films (Ju-on and Ju-on 2), while the
American remake was decent enough and it's sequel while I wasn't that
taken by it still it had its moments. The latter two films received
cinema releases where the remake was a big hit, but the second sequel
(The Grudge 3) would see it hit the straight to DVD market. Watching
you can see why. However that's not a bad thing, as I was actually
surprised by it. It could've been worse. In some ways I prefer it over
"The Grudge 2", but there's no doubts the story keeps within the same
grounds of the first two films --- similar investigations, story
progression, imagery and scares. We've seen it before, but there's one
or two fresh developments regarding Kayako and another is its
supposedly set entirely in America (except for one brief shot in
Tokyo).

The third film continues on from the events of the last film where the
curse was affecting an American family in a dingy apartment building.
The sole survivor of the massacre a young boy is hospitalised, but is
tortured by visions of the vengeful spirits Kayako and Toshio. Soon his
fate is stamped, and now another family (an older brother and his two
sisters) in the apartment find themselves in the path of these vengeful
spirits. However there's a mysterious lady that has come Tokyo and
moved in to the apartment to hopefully put a stop to this curse.

Very standard, but acceptable retread. The budget is considerably
lower; as the make-up FX and special effects go on to show it. The
ghosts and the jerky movements this time just seemed to lack that
menacing and unnerving edge they once held, due to over-used make-up
and too well lit scenes where they would creep up in. However the
shuddery music score and sound FX is effectively skin-crawling and the
air is dripping with a glum atmosphere of dread. Although the chills
and tension falls on the uneven side, as some moments work while others
fall a long way short. The problem might lie in that at times it was
trying to be subtle, but then chooses to be blatant in its acts. Some
stages felt bland (just like the second film) and the script is rather
shallow, but the pacing seemed better handled. Compared to the other
films, it goes against the grain with a linear storyline but remains
just as slow-grinding with it growing darker the further along it went.
As if there's no real escaping this stinging threat, as fate has a
shocking twist or two waiting. The performances are able enough with
the likes of Matthew Knight, Emi Ikehata, Johanna Braddy, Jadie Hobson
and Shawnee Smith.

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:

Every curse needs to to know when to hang it up and go home

Okay but passionless tale of attempts to end the curse by a Japanese
woman who goes from Japan to Chicago where the curse has situated
itself in an apartment building. Much too by the numbers to really be
considered anything (you could have called this anything and it
wouldn't have mattered), this is a film where its clear its time to
call an end to the series (hell, the Japanese did). You know you're in
trouble when the creepy white skin kid now looks like a not so creepy
white skinned teen with a bad haircut. Worse is the fact that the
sounds coming from him are badly done and far from creepy. The series
has lost its way and become a waste of time.

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11 out of 18 people found the following review useful:

Horrible.

First of all, I have been a huge fan of Japanese horror movies ever
since I saw the original Japanese version of The Ring nearly 8-9 years
ago. I have seen a lot of different horror movies but I have to say, my
favourites are The Ring and the Ju-On franchise.

After seeing that there was a The Grudge 3, I had some hopes for it.
But boy, if only I knew what was coming...Where to start? The acting
was utterly horrible and the plot was forgettable. As for the scary
parts, we all know whats coming, you see the boy in white, you hear
that classic sound of ju-on and you see her approaching her victim,
over and over and over again. There is nothing new to this movie and
its about time to let the franchise take a rest.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

I think I heard the floor squeak.

Being a fan of Asian horror movies, it literally pains me to see
Hollywood cash in on Asian movies and 'Americanize' them. And this
third installment to the Americanized versions of "Ju-On" is no
different than other previous attempts of turning Asian horror into
Western horror.

The story told in "The Grudge 3" is not bad as such, but it was a very
weak result they ended up with. Moving the curse from Japan to USA?
Alright, well I guess it was a well enough attempted shot at merging
Asian and Western horror into one movie. Just didn't work that well.
And it seems there will be no end to this particular line of movies, as
the story just goes on and on.

I found the acting in the movie to be adequate, and it was Johanna
Braddy (playing Lisa) and Aiko Horiuchi (playing Kayako) who were
carrying the movie with the most memorable performances. The story was
plagued by poor dialogue, which brought the entire movie down a notch.

What is scary about a little white-painted Japanese boy with 'helmet
hair' who makes cat sounds? Or a white-painted Japanese woman sounding
like a squeaking floor? It is beyond my comprehension.

One of the better things in the movie was the effects, because they
were actually just the right amount of everything; blood, gore, shock,
etc.

And there was literally nothing new to this third installment. Have you
seen the previous two American versions, then you have seen all the
'scary' stuff in this movie already. And I use the term 'scary' lightly
here, because there were no real scares or spooky moments. The only new
part introduced here was the second sister, and with that, letting the
story go on and on...

Hollywood should have stopped once they 'Americanized' "Ju-On" with the
first installment. This third movie was weak and unnecessary.

If you like horror movies, or Asian horror movies in particular, you
are better off with something else entirely. There are lots of other
more interesting and actually scary movies out there. "The Grudge 3"
hopefully managed to put the "Grudge" series to rest.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

Watchable, but nothing more.

In yet another addition to the GRUDGE series, more people fall prey to
those pesky entities that refuse to stay dead, this time however it's
set at the same apartment last seen in THE GRUDGE 2 & the targets are
the apartments owners. When a young Japanise girl travels from Japan to
America, she attempts to warn them of this terrifying evil before the
curse brought on by the violent murders of the ghosts, spreads even
further claiming their lives as well & when a psychiatrist of the young
boy who survived his families massacre at the end of the last movie
gets involved, the stage is set for yet another battle between the
supernatural & the living. I'll be honest, I was never really a fan of
this series to begin with, I saw & hated the original GRUDGE & although
GRUDGE 2 made up for it's lame predecessor, it still lacked that
special something that should have or could have, made it extra scary.
The same holds true for this third installment to the series, while the
acting & directing are up to par & the films many deaths well done &
creepy, the film never reaches the creepy potential it's foreign
predecessors did. Again we get lots of white pasty faced ghosts that
sound like they have a bad case of bone breaking arthritis & cat like
screams, though at this point this series is starting to repeat itself,
the film offers nothing new, nor has it any new twists to help it rise
above it's sequel. Gone is the creepy atmosphere of the first two &
it's characters are none to likable either. All in all the film is
still much better than the boring first film, but lacks the atmosphere
& plot twists of it's sequel, making this film a good watch but nothing
more. In an age of re-boots/re-imaginings (two fancy new words for
remakes) this is one series that could benefit from it.

*** stars

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8 out of 14 people found the following review useful:

kill this movie

don't know what i wanna attack first,, this one was so well off,, from
the first two. you didn't have the fear of what lies beyond,, not
knowing what is in front of you like the first two. the kills were too
stylized, should have never set it in chicago.. the couple always
wanted to have sex in the apartment building ruined it for me,, just
another campy American horror movie. i dind't really care for the
characters that much,, this film just really did not sit well with me
at all,, i mean the storyline wasn't bad,, i just think that somewhere
along the line things just went horribly wrong,, i think that i really
wouldn't recommend this one if you like the first two.